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1991Impact

Carroll’s pyramid of responsibility

The point, in one line

Four responsibilities — economic, legal, ethical, philanthropic. When the money runs out, the other three run out with it.

How it works

A club that cannot pay for the room will keep none of its promises — which is why economic responsibility sits at Carroll's foundation rather than off to one side.

  1. EconomicMoney for the room, the coffee and next year.
  2. LegalThe sponsor contract, sign-up data, music rights, the university's rules.
  3. EthicalThe reference you promised and nobody wrote. The law is silent; you are not.
  4. PhilanthropicVoluntary: an event open to the city, giving to others.
the base holds the rest
Four check questions in place of a score: 'we are at level three' is a meaningless sentence, and Carroll himself pointed out in 2016 that ethics permeates every level.
The same thing, in your club
  1. The situation

    The sponsor's money would save the year, but their business contradicts what the club says it stands for.

  2. What the model says

    The pyramid does not settle this. It only shows that the base and the third level collide, and that both are real.

  3. What you do

    At the meeting walk the four levels out loud, two minutes each, and write one action against every answer that came out vague.

What it claims

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Who created it

AC1991
An illustrated emblem, not a portrait.
Archie B. Carroll
1991

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Why this is your problem

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Why gslk uses it

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Where it runs in the product

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Source

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Rights and licence
In copyright

The primary source is in copyright. This page retells it in our own words and cites it rather than reproducing it.

What this connects to

These works are related to the one you just read — and not by accident:

Grounds these competency domains

Of the ten gslk competency domains, this work grounds:

The student version
Carroll’s pyramid of responsibility

The same work written for a member: what to do with it in the club.

Check it yourself

Links to publishers and libraries. There are no links to unauthorised copies here, and there will not be.

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